The present invention relates to a diffusing/polarizing member which can inhibit coloration in viewing from a slantwise direction, can attain bright displays, and is suitable for use in, e.g., fabricating a reflective or semi-transmitting liquid crystal display.
Reflective or semi-transmitting liquid crystal displays have hitherto been known which employ a reflective polarizer comprising a linearly polarized light separator or circularly polarized light separator which separates incident natural light into a reflected light consisting of a polarized light and a transmitted light. However, these liquid crystal displays have had a problem that when they are viewed from a slantwise direction, white or black pictures assume a color.
The coloration in the case of a linearly polarized light separator is attributable to the scattering caused by a birefringent multilayered film. In the case of a circularly polarized light separator, the coloration is attributable to difficulties in maintaining the parallelism of the axis of polarization and the axis of retardation of a quarter wavelength plate in all directions.
An aim of the invention is to develop a diffusing/polarizing member which enables the fabrication of a reflective, semi-transmitting, or another liquid crystal display reduced in display unevenness, e.g., coloration in viewing from a slantwise direction.
The invention provides a diffusing/polarizing member, characterized in that it comprises a laminate of a reflective polarizer which separates incident natural light into a reflected light comprising a polarized light and a transmitted light, and a diffusing layer, and the reflective polarizer and the diffusing layer, when viewed from a slantwise direction, have respective colors which are complementary. The invention further provides liquid crystal displays, characterized by having the diffusing/polarizing member.